For many years I worked for a company that had a very forward thinking culture.
The company focused on the experience of each customer both externally (the actual paying customer) and internally (the paid employee trained to promote the brand). They developed many systems that supported proper communication of the team, and they often used these same systems to draw parallels between the employee’s and the customer’s experience one in the same.
One of the most important virtues, a phrase that was recited almost everyday, repeated often and used to justify so many of our decisions and actions, was the concept of “Assume Positive Intent”.
I would guess that most in the business world have likely heard this phrase and worked to implement it into their culture. But for me, this was the first time in my life I had really heard the phrase or thought about it conceptually, and what I learned regarding its use truly changed my life.
Assume Positive Intent
No matter what the question may be from a colleague or a customer (or a friend), assume that person always means well, and has positive intent behind what is said. Assume that your co-workers are making decisions regarding their actions with the…
